Grow@Jigsaw, Bideford, Devon

 

Jenni, Anne and volunteers at the Open Day in June 2011.

Grow@Jigsaw is a Westcountry Housing project in Bideford, North Devon. With Lottery funding, they have rebuilt the commercial greenhouses at Victoria Park.

The site is now open to the public Mon - Fri 9 am - 4 pm.

There are 2 staff and many volunteers who get training and work experience in horticulture.

A brief history

The idea for a growing project in Bideford by the Jigsaw Team started back in 2004, with an invitation from Torridge District Council and Bideford Town Council to consider using land at East-the-Water to create a social inclusion project.  In 2005 Community Projects North Devon were successful in raising £12k to pay for a feasibility study, including market research and exemplar visits to existing horticulture based social enterprise.  This work culminated in 2006 with a community event at the Polyfields Centre to get the communities views on proposals for the land.  A Business Plan was created to develop the land as both a growing space and community garden.  CPND started negotiations to secure a tenancy on the land from Torridge District Council!

By late 2007, funding had been identified that could start the project for one year whilst bids were made to other charitable trusts.  Unfortunately TDC completed a review of its assets, and took the view that the land should be reserved for residential use, thus excluding the proposed social enterprise.  In 2008, TDC offered CPND the chance to look at the Greenhouses in Victoria Park, Bideford as an alternative site.  Negotiations lasted through 2008 and into early 2009 when a 21 year lease was signed for Grow@Jigsaw on the site.

 

Initially the project ran on a shoe string budget with money from Bideford Bridge Trust, Bideford Town Council, Torridge District Council and the Community Safety Partnership.  The site was open 2-3 days a week, and the initial work was renovating the site, including re-glazing (and repairing) the greenhouses, laying hard standing to improve access, painting and shrub clearance.

Through 2009 project achieved some significant local support, engaged with a range of beneficiaries, and sold locally produced food in its immediate environs.  Concurrently, a bid was submitted to the Big Lottery Local Food programme, which was eventually successful, awarding three year funding and allowing 5 day a week opening of the project.

 

In May 2010, Grow@Jigsaw formally commenced operation and the project is now negotiating for two significant additional areas of land (Northam Lodge and Barnstaple Town Council land) to extend the growing capability.  They are now selling veg bags for the Childrens Centre and supply of fresh salad leaves and herbs to the local Café.

 
 

 

The project enjoys the support of the wider local community through extensive lobbying and effort from Kym Cassinelli, who started the project.  Good connections exist between the project and Probation, PCT, Town Council and other local agencies. 

The project works Mon-Fri, and has volunteers working each day, drawn from the local residents around the Park, people on probation, CVS referrals, people with special needs and more.  They are referred from a range of agencies, and also just drop in due to the project’s central location.  Currently there is a waiting list for people that want to volunteer!

 

When people approach Jigsaw, Anne or Jenni have an induction interview with them to (a) understand what the person hopes to get out of volunteering and (b) understand what special needs (if any) the person has while they are volunteering.  On site, everyone there is simply ‘a volunteer’ – no distinction is made between people on the basis of their background or abilities.  A ‘star’ system is maintained to see if the volunteer is achieving his/her outcomes.